Fighter pilot’s family ‘crushed’ over 86-day wait before court battle

Fighter pilot Daniel Duggan will spend at least 86 more days behind bars waiting to convince a court he should not be extradited to the United States until ASIO has been cleared of illegally luring him into handcuffs in Australia.

Duggan, 54, was arrested in the NSW town of Orange in October at the request of the US, which accuses him of training Chinese pilots in violation of arms trafficking and money laundering laws.

He has denied all wrongdoing and vowed to fight the attempt to extradite him from Australia.

A Downing Centre Local Court magistrate on Monday ruled Duggan should be able to argue for a temporary stay on the extradition. The hearing has been set for July 25.

Duggan’s legal team will argue he should remain in Australia until the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) completes an investigation into his allegations against ASIO.

“The substance of the complaint fundamentally relates to whether or not ASIO has acted illegally or improperly in its dealings with Mr Duggan over an extended period of time,” Duggan’s lawyer, Dennis Miralis, said outside court on Monday.

Miralis told reporters he could not go into detail about the allegations he was making against ASIO because of national security concerns. But part of the complaint is that the spy agency “lured” Duggan back to Australia where he was arrested.

Duggan is struggling in prison, his family says.

“I’m crushed that Dan now faces, at very least, another 86 days in maximum security solitary confinement with no Australian charges, no convictions anywhere, and no history of violence whatsoever,” his wife Saffrine Duggan said in a statement on Monday.

“I’m not looking forward to explaining this to the six children. They will be devastated.”

Duggan’s legal team is hoping that it can win the temporary stay in July where it will argue the pilot should be bailed until the IGIS investigation finishes.

The IGIS report will be provided to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, Miralis said.

There is no timeline for it to be completed and Miralis said it could take months.

Miralis told reporters the US had initially opposed Duggan having a chance to argue for a temporary stay in July – but last week changed their mind and consented.

“At least Dan will now have his day in court to argue for a temporary stay, and the US has ‘generously’ changed its mind and is now ‘allowing’ this to happen in our Australian courts, under our Australian legislation,” Saffrine Duggan said.

US prosecutors allege Duggan trained Chinese pilots in South Africa from 2012 without seeking proper approvals from the US Justice Department. He denies those charges.

The US-born former marine pilot is now a naturalised Australian citizen and operated Top Gun Tasmania, a flying tour business with vintage fighter planes.

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